Driving-gearing for motor-vehicles.



R. E. TWYFORD.

DRIVING GEARING FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY25, 1912. RENEWED SEPT. I0, 1914.

1,136,382. v Pa ented Apr.20, 1915.

ROBERT E. TWYFORD, .OF- SOUTH HOUSTON, TEXAS.

DRIVING-GEARING FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnn'r E. Twrronn, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Houston, in the county of Harris and State of .Texas,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driving-Gearing forMotor-Vehicles, of which thefollow ing is a specification, referencebeinghad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relatesto certain new and useful improvements in thedriving mechanism of motor vehicles of which the management and controlof the vehicles are facilitated, the object-of the invention being toprovide a motor vehicle in which all' the wheels maybe used for tractionpurposes and inwhich a large variation of speed may be quickly obtainedby simple mechanism.

Another object of the inventionis to provide a device of the abovecharacter which will possess advantages in pointsof efiiciency anddurability, is inexpensive to manufacture and at the same time is simplein construction and operation.-

With the above and other ObJGCtS in view the invention consists in thenovel features of construction and the combination and arrangementofparts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims, andshown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top planview., Fig.2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

3 is a sectional view on the'line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring tothe drawing, the numeral 1 designates the frame of avehicle, said frame being mounted upon a front axle 2 and rear axle 3,said axles being of the floating type,

as best illustrated in Fi 3. Suspendedfrom the frame of the vehic e isthe main shaft 4 which extends longitudinally of the vehicle and isprovided at each end with the beveled pinions 5 adapted to mesh with thebeveled gears 7 and 7 which are mounted upon the front and rear axles,said axle carrying the wheels 8 upon each end thereof. The gear 7 is aspecial gear consisting of an outer ring 7 Having teeth thereon andsupported by the two concentric rings 9 and 10, the latter being looselymounted upon the inner hubs 10. of the differential gears 12. Arrangedbetween the rings 9 and 10 are the differential "ears 11 which areadapted to mesh with t e gears 12 mounted upon the Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed July 25, 1912', Serial no. 711,595,

Patented Apr. 22, 1915.,

Renewed September 10, 1914. Serial No. 861,187.

. 13 are adapted to mesh with a second set of gears 15 arranged withinthe casing'and mounted upon the transverse shaft 16 which is suitablyconnected to the tumbling shaft 17 which in turn is suitably connectedto the clutch mechanism (not shown) whereby the gears may be shifted toobtain various speeds. I

Mounted upon the shaft 17 and. arranged upon the outer side of thecasing 14 is a brake drum 18, so that when the frictional band (notshown) is drawn tightly upon the drum toapply the brake thereto, it willbrake all four wheels through the transmission'gears 15 and 13 and theshaft 4. Arranged within the casing 14 is a lock-crab 19 which isprovided so that if, either the front or rear gears are broken, the crabwill lock the differential gears so as to drive either the front orrearaxlealone. From the'above it will I be seen that all power, eitherdriving, or

braking, is applied directly to the shaft 4 which controls all fourwheels.

Mounted upon the front axle 2 is a frame 20 upon which is mounted thefifth wheel 21, pivotally connected to the frame 20 as shown at 22, soas to allow either of the front wheels to pass over an obstructionwithout wrenching the frame 1. Secured to the lower side of the frontend of the frame 1 is a bearing' member 23, in which is rotatablymounted the fifth wheel 21. Secured to the front side of the wheel 21 isan arcuate rack 25 which is adapted to mesh with the Worm gear 26, saidworm gear being mounted upon the transverse shaft27 upon the outer endof which is mounted a gear 28 adapted to mesh with a similar gear 29 onthe lower end of the driving rod 30, so that the vehicle can be easilysteered by rotati'ng the wheel 31 which ismounted upon the upper end ofthe rod 30.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent that I have provided a simple anddurable motor vehicle in which all the wheels are used for tractionpurposes andwhich at the same time can be manufactured at an extremelylow cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itwill be obvious that various changes in the details of construction andin the proportions may I other, three concentric rings disposed aroundthe hubs of the beveled gears, the outermost of such rings beingprovided with a,gearing face, while the innermost of such rings servingas a supporting mounting, radially disposed shafts operativelyconnecting such rings, and beveled gears mounted between the twoinnermost of such rings adapted to.

mesh with the pinions on the shafts.

2.- A gear mechanism including two axially alined shafts, a beveled gearsecured on each of the shafts adjacent to their opposed ends and eachbeing provided with a cylindrical hub extending one toward-the other, aplurality of concentric rings disposed around the hubs of the beveledgears, the

outermost of Such rings being provided with gearing faces whilethefinnermost of such rings serves as a supporting mounting, radiallydisposed shafts operatively connecting said rings, and beveled gearsmounted between the two innermost of said rings adapted to mesh with thepinions on the shafts.

3. A gear mechanism including two axially alined shafts, a beveled gearsecured on each of the shafts adjacent to their meeting ends and eachbeing provided with a cylindrical hub extending one toward the other, anannular ring disposed around the hubs of the gears, a toothed rimsecured to the outer surface of the annular ring with the radial planeat its axial center coinciding with said meeting ends of the shafts, aplurality of beveled gears operatively mounted within said annular ringand having their longitudinal centers coinciding with the medial radialplane of said toothed rim, and a bearing ring rotatably mounted .on thehubs of the first gears and coacting therewith and with the axles ofsaid plurality of gears for supporting the latter and the said annularring and toothed rim independently of any other supporting means.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ROBERT E. TWYFORD. Witnesses:

Jae.v C. EHLINGER, J. E. PRICE.

